Welcome back to another blog from Rogue! This week we are revisiting one of our most popular blogs of all time, our Mythbusters post about the Prince Albert piercing.
When it comes to intimate piercings, Prince Albert piercings are probably the most common, and most popular option. For example, we performed over 40 of them in 2023! Placed on the underside of the head of the penis and exiting through the urethra, the Prince Albert or PA is notorious in the piercing and body modification industry for having super quick healing times and purportedly desirable results. The Prince Albert was popularised in modern piercing in the early 70’s by Jim Ward, the most influential body piercer of the modern age . But where did it get its infamous name?
Why the Prince Albert?
It all goes back to the 70s and 80s, and the group of friends that Jim Ward collected. Doug Malloy, a friend of Ward’s, was one of the most famous. You know elevator music? That entire genre is the brainchild of Doug Malloy. And what did Mr Malloy invest his money in? The burgeoning body piercing industry. To help popularise piercings in the days before viral social media, it is said that Malloy created a scandalous pamphlet in which he wrote tales of the piercings they performed. One of these stories was about the origins of the ever-popular Prince Albert piercing. To look further into this, we must ask – who was Prince Albert, anyway?
Albert, Prince Consort to Queen Victoria, was born in 1819 and was married to Queen Vic on the 10th of February, 1840. Together they had 9 children and he tirelessly supported the Queen throughout her reign. Initially reluctant towards the role of Prince Consort and the lack of power he held (remind you of anyone?), Albert became known for supporting public causes such as educational reform and the abolishment of slavery! One of the rumours that Malloy wrote in his pamphlets was that Prince Albert invented the legendary PA piercing. It was said that Prince Albert was incredibly well endowed, but it was uncouth in that day and age to display that publicly. So in order to hide his large penis in his tight trousers, he chose to have a ring installed so that he could tie his member down to one of his legs.
There are many stories about how the PA got its name, from the theory that Prince Albert himself had Peronei’s disease (a kink of the penis) and used the piercing to straighten his it out, to the general public tying down their penises to hide their erection from the Queen’s daughters. Legend also has it that Prince Albert used the piercing to pull back the foreskin to keep his member sweet-smelling so as to not offend the Queen. How considerate of him!
The Prince Albert is clearly a historical piercing awash with myth and hearsay. It is difficult for anyone to nail down how exactly the piercing got its name, however the most likely theory is that Victorian haberdashers called it the “dressing ring” and used it to firmly secure male genitalia to the more comfortable leg in a method not unlike tucking for Drag Queens. It was very popular in those days for men to wear extremely tight trousers and the piercing helped minimize visible endowment.
Either way, we now know that the Victorians were anything but shy – Many Victorians had tattoos and indeed piercings! It was quite common for young Victorian women to get their ears pierced, until it fell out of fashion at the turn of the 20th Century when it became seen as ‘barbaric…’ So although it is probably a myth, all the best myths carry a hint of truth behind them.
It is most certainly an interesting piercing that has been the subject of a lot of speculation throughout the years. But whatever the reason is, it is a timeless piercing that many people enjoy across the globe, and is just one of many intimate piercings that are available!
If you have any interest in getting an intimate piercing, you can find a whole host of modern-day information across our website – Click on any of the buttons below to take you to the places you want to go!